The conservative party from thatcher to cameron

Theresa May will take over the job of British prime minister from David Cameron on Wednesday after a series of political shocks caused by Britain's vote to leave the European Union. May, who has been interior minister for six years and is seen by her supporters as a safe pair of hands to steer Britain through the disruptive process of leaving the EU, will become Britain's second woman prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher. Cameron, who led the campaign to remain in the 28-member bloc Britain had joined in 1973, announced the morning after the June 23 referendum that he would stand down, triggering a leadership contest in the ruling Conservative Party. The contest had been due to last until September but ended unexpectedly on Monday when junior energy minister Andrea Leadsom, May's last rival candidate after others were eliminated, abruptly pulled out. After taking part in his last weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in parliament's House of Commons at lunchtime, … [Read more...] about Theresa May to take over as British PM after Brexit shocks

British Defence Secretary Liam Fox resigned Friday amid a spiralling scandal over his links to the best man at his wedding, becoming the first Conservative minister to quit the coalition government. Fox, who played a key role in Britain's military campaigns in Libya and Afghanistan, stepped down after it emerged that his friend Adam Werritty posed as a government adviser and took a string of foreign jaunts with the minister. "I mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my government activities to become blurred. The consequences of this have become clearer in recent days," Fox wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron. "I am very sorry for this." Cameron said Fox, 50, had helped prevent Libyans being "massacred" by Moamer Kadhafi's forces and had done a "superb job" since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition came to power after elections in May 2010. He said he would be announcing Fox's replacement "very shortly". With rumours swirling in the press about … [Read more...] about British defence minister resigns over ties to best man

Royalty, dignitaries and admirers from all walks of life paid their final respects to Margaret Thatcher on Wednesday in the grandest funeral for a British leader in half a century - although a few boos from the London crowd were a reminder of her divisive rule.
Her coffin was borne on a horse-drawn gun carriage then soldiers and sailors carried her casket into St. Paul's Cathedral for a service attended by Queen Elizabeth and 11 serving prime ministers from around the world.
Outside, thousands of supporters lined the route, some throwing blue roses in her path.
Opponents chanted "Ding dong the witch is dead" and turned their backs on her coffin as it passed by - an indication of the divisions which Britain's longest serving prime minister of the 20th Century still provokes due to the tumultuous change she brought.
Thatcher sought to arrest Britain's post-war decline with free-market economic policies which enraged her left-wing opponents by smashing the unions and privatizing … [Read more...] about Britain bids farewell to Iron Lady Thatcher at grand funeral

"The Iron Lady," the new biopic starring Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher, was controversial before audiences even saw it, largely because of its portrayal of the aging former prime minister's dementia.
The current UK prime minister, David Cameron, suggested the movie was premature and shouldn't have been made while Thatcher was alive. Her former public-relations adviser, Tim Bell, called it "rubbish," while her former Tory rival Michael Heseltine dubbed it "distasteful."
The movie's primary theme is loss: of Thatcher's friends to terrorist bombs; of her prime ministership to rebellious former allies; of her husband, Denis, to illness; and of her once-brilliant mind to the ravages of age. "The Iron Lady's" creators audaciously analogize their film to King Lear.
Contrary to the critics, framing Thatcher's story with her current dementia, which her daughter has written about, is not intrinsically disrespectful. Nor does it necessarily undercut her accomplishments.
The problem, … [Read more...] about Iron Lady falls to the Anna Quindlen doctrine

Britain's Labour Party suffered its worst local election defeat on record and lost control of London on Friday, forcing Prime Minister Gordon Brown to rethink his strategy to avoid losing the next national poll.
Conservative Boris Johnson, a journalist-turned-lawmaker prone to gaffes, wrested the prized post of London mayor from Labour's maverick Ken Livingstone, who has run the sprawling metropolis of some 7.5 million people since 2000.
Labour candidate Ken Livingstone shakes hands with Conservative candidate Boris Johnson (R) after Johnson wins the London Mayoral election at City Hall in central London May 2, 2008 … [Read more...] about Brown’s party loses London

Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday he was "profoundly sorry" for failures and cover-ups in the wake of the 1989 Hillsborough football disaster in which 96 spectators died after a crowd crush in the stadium.
Attempts by the police to defect the blame for Britain's worst sporting disaster onto Liverpool fans to cover up their own flawed response and the dangers of an outdated stadium amounted to a "double injustice", he said. … [Read more...] about Cameron apologises for Hillsborough disaster

Interior minister Theresa May is set to become Britain's first woman prime minister since Margaret Thatcher after her only rival abruptly quit the race on Monday, removing the need for a drawn-out leadership contest. May, 59, was left as the only candidate to succeed David Cameron, who announced he was stepping down after Britons voted last month to leave the European Union. Britain's planned withdrawal has weakened the 28-nation bloc and created huge uncertainty over trade and investment. May and energy minister Andrea Leadsom had been due to contest a ballot of around 150,000 Conservative party members, with the result to be declared by Sept. 9. But Leadsom unexpectedly withdrew on Monday, opening the way for May to take over much sooner. Her victory means that the complex process of extricating Britain from the EU will be led by someone who favored a vote to Remain in last month's membership referendum. Leadsom, 53, has never served in cabinet and was barely known to the British … [Read more...] about Theresa May set to replace Cameron as rival quits UK PM race

Interior minister Theresa May is set to become Britain's prime minister on Wednesday with the task of steering its withdrawal from the European Union after her only rival abruptly pulled out. May, 59, will succeed David Cameron, who announced he was stepping down after Britons unexpectedly voted last month to quit the EU. Britain's planned withdrawal has weakened the 28-nation bloc, created huge uncertainty over trade and investment, and shaken financial markets. May and energy minister Andrea Leadsom had been due to contest a ballot of around 150,000 Conservative party members, with the result to be declared by Sept. 9. But Leadsom unexpectedly withdrew on Monday, removing the need for a nine-week leadership contest. Cameron told reporters in front of his 10 Downing Street residence that he expected to chair his last cabinet meeting on Tuesday and take questions in parliament on Wednesday before tendering his resignation to Queen Elizabeth. "So we will have a new prime minister in … [Read more...] about Theresa May to replace Cameron Wednesday as pro-Brexit rival quits UK PM race

British Prime Minister David Cameron suffered a humiliating defeat in parliament on Wednesday after Conservatives rebelled over Europe, an issue that has divided his party for decades and helped bring down previous leaders. British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks at a business conference in London July 26 Although the result carried no legal weight, the setback raised questions about Cameron's authority after months of missteps by his coalition government and it revived painful memories of Conservative infighting over Europe. Cameron wants the European Union's long-term budget to rise only in line with inflation, while opponents said it should be cut in real terms to reflect the bleak economic landscape at home and across Europe. The rebels won the vote by 307 to 294 votes, a majority of 13, after they received support from the Labour Party, a generally pro-European group accused by Cameron of "rank opportunism". "This is a time for Brussels to listen to the … [Read more...] about UK’s Cameron rocked by defeat in Europe budget vote

Britain was printing invitations Thursday for 2,000 people for the funeral of Margaret Thatcher, ranging from all of the surviving US presidents and British prime ministers to celebrities including "Top Gear" host Jeremy Clarkson.
Margaret Thatcher with President George H.W. Bush in the White House Oval Office in Washington in 1991. Britain has invited all the surviving former US presidents to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher next week in a final testament to the Iron Lady's special relationship with America, the government said Thursday as it unveiled a 2,000-strong guest list.
But great figures from Thatcher's Cold War era, including former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, ex-German chancellor Helmut Kohl and former US president Ronald Reagan's widow Nancy, will all be absent due to ill health.
Argentina meanwhile downplayed Britain's decision not to invite President Cristina Kirchner in a sign of the tensions that still exist between the two countries following the 1982 … [Read more...] about US ex-presidents among 2,000 invited to Thatcher funeral